What do bike-sharing, bottle service, dog parks, pop-up stores, turnstiles and the wave (the stadium phenomenon) have in common? For starters, they are among the many things that get the “Who Made That” treatment in this year’s Innovations Issue, which came out this past weekend. But they are also features of city life, the sorts of adaptations that you would expect to evolve to take advantage of — and possibly release the pressures of — urban density.
Perhaps we should have devoted some space to cities themselves, as kinds of first causes or prime movers, the places where so many whos make so many thats. (Maybe next year!) Last week, Larry Hardesty’s article in M.I.T. News, “Why Innovation Thrives in Cities,” summarized a new paper from researchers at the Human Dynamic Lab at M.I.T.’s Media Laboratory. One upshot: “increases in urban density give residents greater opportunity for face-to-face interaction” — which enhances inventiveness. The director of the Human Dynamic Lab, Alex Pentland, sums up the dynamic:
To read the full, original article click on this link: Innovation Bout: Beijing vs. Zurich - NYTimes.com
